GeoffShackelford.com

When you realize that a golf club positions the player’s hands 40 inches, more or less, from a ball 1.68 inches in diameter that must be hit precisely after a swing that may take the clubhead on a round trip of as much as 26 or 27 feet, you become aware of the importance of using clubs conforming correctly to your requirements. TOMMY ARMOUR

“How do you justify these prices? How do you justify the price of a Lamborghini?” said Mark King, the former chief executive of TaylorMade who is now a consultant to Honma. “People don’t understand what’s under the hood, nor do they care. There is a certain status it represents.”

And yet…

U.S. retail sales of golf equipment grew 8% from November 2017 to November 2018, at $2.6 billion, according to market data compiled by NPD Group. Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst for the company, said that growth was largely driven by low-cost, entry-level gear.

Higher-end clubs were not included in NPD’s data because they are not sold through retailers. But Powell said the emergence of the category is comparable to that of ultra-premium bicycles that sell for $10,000 or more.

“I think all of this is being driven by the boom in baby boomers retiring,” Powell said. “You’ve got some who are saying, ‘I always wanted to have a custom-made bike or a really high-end set of golf clubs, and now that I’m no longer working, I’m going to splurge a little bit.’”

PXG was included in the piece and Costa included this intriguing predictions that revenues would rise on the lower driver price.

PXG still isn’t profitable. Parsons said it had revenues of around $80 million in 2018—roughly at break-even—and expects to grow by 50% or more this year by opening more stores and slightly reducing prices. But it has already gained wider appeal—including among an array of pro golfers—than many in the industry initially expected.

And as Costa notes, with the economic divide growing, so might the high-end market.

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RIP His Ownself, Dan Jenkins. The best sportswriter ever. Not often do you get to hang out with your hero, but I did four times a year and consider myself one lucky SOB! Thanks for all the laughs and support over the years, press rooms and media hotel bars will never be the same.

Lefty! @djohnsonpga has a good move left or righthanded

90 years ago at Riviera’s first LA Open the press worked from the clubhouse patio using a telescope and binoculars. This week the @genesisopen media center was a massive operation in between holes 1 & 2 with WiFi, a barista, interview room, TV’s and ShotLink data at our fingertips. Thank you to the staff, volunteers @tgrliveevents @genesis_usa, Brenner-Zwikel team and @pgatour for another great week at Riviera during the 2019 Genesis Open won by J.B. Holmes.